Babysitting Chaos
by Ashana
Summary: [Movieverse] Piper Marks has babysat for the Lennox's for 5 years, and that night wasn't supposed to be any different...
1. Chapter 1

**Babysitting Chaos**

**Chapter 1: The Angel**

"What in the _world _happened to your face?"

Piper Marks turned her face into the shadows that lurked along the porch of the ranch house, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth in a vain attempt to sooth Sarah Lennox's temper.

"It's nuttin', Mrs. Lennox," she insisted, tugging at the yellow, cat-eared beanie crowning her dark hair. The hats face—an anime-style kitty, complete with plastic black whiskers—grinned at the woman as Piper avoided her piercing gaze.

"Nothing? That's not nothing!" Sarah insisted, taking the babysitters arm and pulling her into the front hall. Yellow light flooded the girls beaten face, revealing the blackening eye and the blue-purple bruise along her jaw. "What in the world happened to you?" She demanded gently.

Piper winced as the woman prodded at her face. "Well, I thought about what you said about Chris," she muttered, jerking her jaw away from the prying fingers, "and I broke up with him."

"So he _hit _you?" Sarah demanded.

The teenager shrugged, "Yeah, well, he can't do it anymore, right?" She asked, giving the woman her favorite devil-may-care grin. "C'mon Sarah, don't worry about me tonight. It your twelfth anniversary, right? Go out with Captain Lennox and have a good time."

A hand snaked around Sarah's waist as Captain Lennox appeared from the living room with eyes only for his wife. "Don't worry, Piper, we wi—what in the world happened to your face?"

The girl shrugged. "Ran into a light-pole on the off the bus," she lied before turning the conversation away from her bruises, "So, where are the kids?"

Lennox motioned to the living room he had just vacated. "Annabelle's watching 'The Little Mermaid' and Hillary is playing with her dolls."

Piper slung her backpack off of her shoulder, dropping it by the living room doorway. "Sounds like a pretty tame night for me. In bed by eight as usual?"

Sarah nodded as Lennox helped her into her jacket, covering up her thin-strapped black dress. "Yes, eight o'clock as usual. There are some cookies in the kitchen they can nibble on, just make sure they brush their teeth before they go to bed."

Lennox straightened his tie before motioning to a small row of hooks on the wall. "We're leaving you the truck, just in case anything happens," he explained, pointing to the keys belonging to the GMC Topkick currently parked out in the driveway.

Piper gave them a reassuring smile. "C'mon, Captain Lennox, I've been taking care of your kids for five years, and have yet to burn the house down."

"You do have a drivers license, right?" Lennox suddenly asked. With a roll of her eyes, Piper fished a well-used checkered wallet from her back pocket and flashed her license.

"Had it for almost two years. I _am _seventeen, ya know."

Sarah rolled her eyes and pushed her husband towards the door, swinging her purse over her shoulder. "Don't mind him, Piper, you know how he gets about his girls."

The girl laughed and waved them off, making sure to shut and lock the door behind them. Grabbing her bag, she trooped into the living room to face the two terrors of the night.

Ten-year-old Annabelle was sprawled on the couch under a blanket, her blonde hair falling in a wild heap over a throw pillow. Ariel the little mermaid was currently using a fork (_dingle hopper_, Piper reminded herself) to brush her hair as Prince Eric looked on and Sebastian avoided the butlers fork. Her younger sister, five-year-old Hillary, was sitting in the rug separating the TV and couch, her Malibu Barbie beach house nearly blocking the TV screen. She had her fathers dark hair, which had been pulled into two long braids that swung as she made Barbie and Ken kiss.

"Aren't you two a sight for sore eyes?" Piper asked. The two girls turned to look at her, twin grins spreading across the faces as they realized that tonight was going to be a very, very good night.

---------

"Hillary, stop hogging the cookies," Piper reprimanded the five-year-old as she hugged the bag of chocolate chip delights to her chest. All three of the girls were spread out on the living room rug, half-watching Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

"But I want 'em!" Hillary whined, waving her scantily-clad Barbie doll in Pipers face.

The babysitter gently took the cookies from her younger charges arms. "I know, sweetie, but you can't have to many or there won't be any left for tomorrow."

Hillary pouted before dropping her doll and getting to her feet. "I gotta go potty," she announced before trooping out of the tent. Piper watched her go with a bemused look on her face; she had long ago abandoned figuring that kid out.

"Hey Piper?" Annabelle asked softly, looking away from the TV screen to glance at the pondering teenager, "Can I ask you something?"

The girl rolled onto her side to face her charge, an understanding smile on her face. "Of course. You know you can always ask me anything, Anna-Banana."

She smiled at the nickname, but then turned serious. "Piper, do you believe in angels?"

The teenager sat up, startled by the serious question. She was expecting something more along the lines of 'Do monkeys wear underpants?" from the normally bright and hyper kid.

"Well," she started slowly, "What do you mean by angels?"

Annabelle also sat up, their movie forgotten. "Like, guardian angels; ones that protect you."

Piper scratched her chin, careful of the bruise. "Well, I do believe that angels watch over everybody. Like, remember two years ago when I was in that car wreck with my boyfriend? I wasn't hurt very badly, was I?" She asked.

"No, you only had a cut on your arm."

She nodded, "And I believe that a guardian angel was watching over me then." She gave Annabelle a concerned look. "What brought this all on, sweetie?"

The girl shifted uncomfortably. "I—I think I've been seeing an angel around the house."

"Really? Where have you seen it?" Piper began to grow worried; things like this weren't normal.

"There's a—a face, that comes up to the windows sometimes. It's all silver and black and had really bright blue eyes." She moved closer to her older friend, "It only comes at night, so I hide under my blankets, but I don't think that it knows that I know that it comes."

Piper pulled the girl into her lap. "Does the, uh, _face _do anything? Does it try to scare you or hurt you?" Annabelle shook her head, blonde hair flopping about.

"No, it just looks, and then it goes and looks in the other rooms," She looked up at Piper. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Oh, honey, of course I do!" The babysitter reassured her. "There's a lot of strange stuff in the world we don't know about, so it could be an angel," she comforted.

"But what if its not an angel? What if its something bad?"

Piper turned the girl to look at her. "Annabelle, there is _nothing _out there that I would let hurt you, understand? Your parents and I will _never_ let anything or any_one_ hurt you. Understand?"

Annabelle nodded. "Piper?"

"Yes?"

"What happened to your face?"

She grinned, reaching up to touch her blackened eye. "I fell down the stairs and ran into a lamp pole," she laughed, ruffling Annabelle's hair.

---------

By the time Hillary returned, carrying a bag of potato chips she had raided from the kitchen counter, Annabelle and Piper were in high spirits, rolling around in a heated tickle-fight under the sheet tent. Hillary plopped down on a dislodged couch cushion to watch, munching on the chips. After a moment more, in which Annabelle managed to pin Piper and get her to beg for mercy, the two flopped onto their backs, breathless.

The three munched on chips as their movie finished, giggling and poking each other. By the time Belle had married the Beast, it was 8:30, and after insisting that the girls didn't tell their parents they had stayed up an extra half-hour, Piper herded them upstairs to bed.

By 9:00 the two were tucked in, faces washed and teeth brushed. Piper had read to them, before retreating down stairs to retrieve a pack of frozen peas and collapse on the couch. The living room had been cleaned up, all indications of chips and cookies gone, so the girl allowed herself to relax and flip through the TV channels as the peas soothed her pounding bruises.

"PIPER!"

The scream, bordering on blood-curdling, nearly gave the babysitter a heart attack. The peas flew out of her hand, smacking into the silver and blue stereo on the shelf by the TV. For a second, she thought she heard it mutter something unintelligible, but a second scream brought her back to reality. She sprinted into the hall and up the stairs. She saw Hillary disappear into Annabelle's room, where the screaming had been coming from. She followed, scared of what she'd find.

Annabelle was sitting in her bed, shaking and staring at the window, large eyes nearly popping out of her pale face. Hillary was at her side, equally shaken. Piper hurried forward.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, wrapping an arm around each of them.

Annabelle dragged her eyes from the window. "It—it was the face! It came back, Piper!" She began to cry, "and it saw me, and it—it opened its mouth and I—I--!"

"I saw it too!" Hillary began to wail. "It was gonna eat us up, Piper!"

Piper glanced at the window, which showed the tree tops of the surrounding forest. The Lennox's lived in a secluded ranch house a few miles out of town, for the peace and quiet it afforded after all of the fighting Captain Lennox had been through. Could something really be lurking out there, though?

She gathered Hillary up in her arms and held a hand out to Annabelle. "C'mon, you two, we'll go downstairs and sleep together. You're parents should be back soon."

Actually, they weren't going to be back until nearly midnight, three hours away, but there was no reason to scare the children worse. They trooped down the stairs to the living room, where Piper turned on all the lights and settled the two on the couch. Getting two quilts from the cabinet in the corner of the room, she wrapped each of them snuggly before digging through her backpack and pulling out a case of CDs. The two watched her silently, sniffling and huddling together. Piper carefully chose a CD of soothing and relaxing music that she had bought for when her charges had nightmares. She popped it into the blue and silver stereo and pressed play before returning to the couch and sitting between the children, allowing Hillary to snuggle in her arms and Annabelle to lay her head on her lap.

The slow strains of violins and a piano drifted through the stereo, gently coaxing the two frightened children in a calmer state. Piper stroked Annabelle's hair and hugged Hillary. The two began to drift off into sleep, snoring quietly. She tilted her head back, head throbbing in time with her bruises.

The music abruptly stopped. Piper glanced at the stereo, confused, as it began to play the CD backwards, faster and faster. The violins became a high, keening scream the awoke the two girls in her lap. Hillary burst into tears and clung to Piper with Annabelle. The music stopped suddenly, and a high-pitched snicker echoed around the living room.

"Chaashaashaashasa! Chaashaaaashahahasha!"

To the absolute horror of one babysitter, the blue and silver stereo spit out the CD she had chosen and began to fall apart, speakers and buttons splitting and twisting and turning with the strangest sounds. It fell from the shelf, expanding into a four-limbed figure with a wild face and leering mouth. "Chaasshaaaa!" His long, blade-like fingers began to click together in excitement as he took a step forward, head bobbing. "Chasshaa! All mine!" He screeched, following it with more of his insane laughter.

Piper felt reality begin to fall apart. The stereo had just changed—_transformed_—into some kind of psycho robot, that was now advancing, CD-like disks with sharp blades clutched in his hands. He was planning on _hurting _Annabelle and Hillary.

_"Annabelle, there is nothing out there that I would let hurt you, understand? Your parents and I will never let anything or anyone hurt you. Understand?"_

The decision had already been made. Piper got to her feet, motioning for the girls to stay behind her. "Annabelle, take your sister over the back of the couch and get into the truck. I'll be right behind you," She ordered in a whisper, trying to stop her hands from shaking.

"But Piper—"

"GO!"

The silver robot charged as the two girls scrambled over the couch, laughing insanely. "—let anything or anyone hurt you!" The words issued mockingly from his mouth, imitating what Piper had said. "Hurt you! Hurt you! Gonna kill you!"

Piper heard the two scramble into the hall and try to open the lock holding the door closed. She grabbed the quilt Annabelle had been resting under and threw it at the robot, but his razorblade fingers made short work of it. "Gonna get you! Gonna kill you!" He chattered at Piper like an irate squirrel. She seized her backpack and swung it at him as he advanced, knocking it against his head in an attempt to gain purchase in the rapidly closing space between them.

"The door won't open!"

Annabelle was in the door, gripping the wall in terror as the robot switched his focus to her. Before either girls could move, the robot had used his gangly legs to launch over the couch and swing his claws at her. She screeched, falling back, as crimson blood spurted from her arm, where there were three long, deep cuts.

"No!" Piper threw herself clumsily over the couch, crashing against the robot, who fell forward into the hall after Annabelle. Hillary was at the door, screaming bloody murder as her sister fell against the wall in a bloody heap. The babysitter felt her own arms open up under the cruel hands, and could see her blood mingling with Annabelle's on the stained carpet. They were all going to die at the hands of this insane boom box unless someone came to their aid, but the nearest house was five miles away, and nobody could hear them this far back from the road and in the shelter of all the trees...

Hands as large as wading pools forced themselves into the house, ripping out the door and knocking over Hillary, who began to scream all over again. The three girls and crazy robot watched as the silver hands tore through the wall, revealing ample space for a large, silver and black face with piercing blue optics to peer through. Piper felt her mouth drop open, and was about to scream for the two girls to run for the back door, when the robot beneath her wrapped his claws around her shoulders and threw her _at the giant robot._

She crashed against something hard and metal and _big._ Things that felt like steel trees wrapped around her, trapping her against the surface. A voice rumbled above her, but she was too scared for both herself and the kids to understand what it was saying. She heard the stereo laugh again, and then felt the surface shake in time with loud, booming noises and flashes of bright blue light.

_Guns...it has guns...the girls have to run..._

The shots slowed and stopped. Piper carefully, slowly opened one of her eyes to examine her less-than-desirable position. She was clutched in the giant—things hand. It was crouched in front of the house, its bright blue eyes focused on the destroyed wall and the two girls that stood behind it. Hillary was bawling, Annabelle was staring up at him in awe. Piper struggled against the fingers pinning her down. If he hurt those girls she was going to—

The large face changing direction to look at her stilled her furious thoughts. She licked her lips, suddenly finding herself speechless. The giant blinked his eyes curiously at her before glancing back at the girls. Slowly, he lowered his hand and set the stunned girl on the debris-covered porch. She stumbled at her feet touched the ground and he placed his finger on her shoulder.

"PIPER!" Hillary crashed into the girl, wrapping her arms around her legs and sobbing into the jean material. Annabelle limped after her, eyes trained on the giant. She stopped beside the babysitter, who was looking at the still-bleeding cuts on her arms with worry.

"You're," the ten-year-old said quietly to the giant, "the angel."

**NOTE:**

**Hey! Thanks for reading! Big props to The Crab for so much help! Hope you enjoyed and REVIEW IF YOU WANT MORE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Babysitting Chaos**

**Chapter 2: Conversations**

He was large, a twisted frame of metal occasionally sprouting pieces of what looked like black armor. His chest was covered by what appeared to be a truck grill, and split in half across it was a GMC logo, along with silver lettering proudly announcing he was a 'Topkick 6500.' Carefully, the robot lowered himself onto one knee, resting a hand on the ground for support and slinging the other casually across the bent limb.

Piper Marks instinctively pulled Annabelle against her, placing her other arm around Hillary, who had her face buried in the babysitters' hip. Gears in the robots heads clicked as he watched them with those bright blue eyes. Carefully—_slowly_—he leaned forward, a kind smile working its way across his face.

"You have nothing to fear, Miss Marks," he consoled softly, the small plates of metal above his eyes sloping to form a worried expression.

Piper felt her hands begin to shake, and tightened her grip on her charges shoulders to keep them steady. "Y—you know my n-name?" She struggled to keep her voice at a steady pitch.

He nodded, brows sloping upwards in amusement. "Yes, Miss Marks."

"Do—do you know _my _name?" Annabelle asked, blinking her large eyes up at him.

He laughed. "Yes, Miss Annabelle, I know your name very well." He turned his eyes to Hillary, who hand turned and pressed one cheek against Piper's leg so she could watch the robot, "And yours too, Little Hillary."

The five-year-old stared up at him in awe. "You---you chased away the monster, didn' you?"

He nodded. "Yes. Ru—er, the monster is gone now," he frowned, "But he may come back, with reinforcements, and you are all injured."

Hillary released Piper and jumped up and down in place. "I'm okay!" She declared with the sunshine only an attention-span deprived child could find in a situation like that. A deep rumble came from the robots chest, and with a start Piper realized he was _laughing._

"Yes, Hillary, _you're_ all right," he agreed, "But your sister and Miss Marks are hurt, and we need to get them to a medic."

"We're _fine_," Piper grabbed Hillary's arm and pulled her back, scowling protectively.

The robot scowled right back, his large mouth dropping into a frown. "_I _am their protector, Miss Marks. _You _are their temporary caretaker. I outrank you."

"Protector?" Annabelle shrugged off Piper's trembling hand and took a step towards him. "Did our dad send you?"

The robot shook his head. "No, I've been here for the past ten years, looking after you."

Piper glanced at the red GMC emblem on his chest and two plus two began to make four. "The _truck! _You're the _truck!_"

"Yes, Miss Marks, bu—" Ironhide began, but the girl interrupted him.

"How?"

Ironhide heaved a rather heavy sigh, dragging one of his hands down his face in an exasperated gesture well-known of Captain Lennox. He was about to answer in the same way Optimus Sam Witwicky had ten years ago, but flashing red and blue lights interrupted the conversation.

A black and white police cruiser raced down the paved driveway and into the clearing that surrounded the house, lights flaring and sirens echoing through the trees. Ironhide turned and half-stood to look as the cruiser skidded to a halt, opened its driver's door for its rider, and then twisted into a second humanoid robot.

Piper pulled Annabelle back to her side, making sure she was between the two robots and her charges. The new police-bot trained his light-blue optics on her as the truck-bot stood to his full height.

"Yer gettin' slow, Prowl," he grumbled as he stretched his arms over his head in an attempt to crack his back. The police-bot, Prowl, ignored the jibe and kept his eyes focused on the three girls standing on the destroyed porch.

"What happened here?" He demanded. Ironhide launched into a military sounding report about something called a 'Rumble,' but Piper wasn't paying any heed to him. She was focused on the man standing at Prowl's feet.

He was an officer of the law; the blue work outfit and buzzed blonde hair made that abundantly clear. His right shoulder was leaning against Prowl's leg as he watched the two robots converse, listening contently with his arms crossed in a no-nonsense pose. As the conversation turned away from what had happened to what needed to happen, he uncrossed his arms and approached the porch.

Piper watched him approach with measured caution, keeping a hand on each of her girls. The officer held his hands up, showing them to be empty and his gun secured in his belt. He flashed them a reassuring smile that was much more welcoming than the truck-bots, but Piper still wasn't going to let him closer without seeing a badge.

"Hello," the man greeted casually as he came to a stop a foot or two away from the splintering porch. One of the outdoor lights—dangling from a frayed cord and flickering constantly—illuminated a well-tanned face bulleted by two navy eyes that were ringed with dark circles. When the girls stayed silent, he plowed on, taking in Piper's ragged jeans, green plaid skirt and blood-stained shirt. "You're too old to be one of the Lennox girls," he noted, trailing off in the faint hopes of an answer.

"Piper Marks," she obliged, "I'm the babysitter."

The cop whipped a small notebook out of his belt and flipped it to a clear page, yanking a pen from the spiral-wire top. "Piper...Marks," he jotted down, half-listening to the conversation going on behind them. "Ironhide, stop it, Prowl's right," He interjected absently before looking up at the girls again. "That would mean that you two are Annabelle and Hillary, Will's sweethearts?" He grinned.

"Yeah, that's us," Anna agreed, gripping Piper's hand. The babysitter gave it a gentle squeeze and shot her a reassuring smile. The cop glanced up from his notebook, and she caught the name engraved on the gold tag pinned to his chest: **Officer James Wyman.** Piper opened her mouth to ask what was going to happen next, but the truck-robot's shouting interrupted her.

"Ah, slag no! You didn't really call in those two glitches, did you?" The black 'bot demanded of the police car angrily.

Prowl crossed his arms and gave the truck a patient, long-suffering look that seemed to fit his face perfectly. "Ironhide, stop shouting around the humans," he ordered, glancing down at the girls as Hillary buried her face against Piper's hip. His blue eyes brightened momentarily, and then dimmed again as a frown creased his brow. "They're injured," he grunted, turning to glare at his companion, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was gettin' to it," Ironhide grumbled, scuffing the once-neatly manicured lawn with his large foot. Prowl snorted in disbelief, earning a shrug from the black bot. "So, let's get them to the hospital and report to Prime."

"They _can't _go to the hospital," the cruiser sighed. "If the Decepticons could find them here, than what would stop them from hacking into the hospital database and attacking them there?" He glanced at the girls. "We'll take them back to base, where Ratchet can have a look at them."

"_You _aren't taking _us _anywhere!"

The two robots and single cop turned to stare at Piper, who was fuming. She had pushed the two younger girls behind her and crossed her bloody arms, hip thrust to one side.

Prowl closed his eyes in a slow, weary blink. "Miss Marks—"

"For the love of all that's holy my name is _Piper!_"

"Piper, then," the cruiser's face shifted into a thin scowl that gave the impression she was not his first annoyance. "You have lost a lot of blood in the last fifteen minutes and are dealing with very bad shock. Miss Annabelle's arm is also damaged, and surely you are not going to ignore her pain?"

The babysitter opened her mouth to give a snappy retort, but paused and finally glanced down at herself. There were four deep cuts in her left arm and three in her right, a narrow gouge in her left side that had ripped straight through her shooting-star tee, and several other bruises and bumps from being thrown around by the spaz-bot.

"We have to wait for the Captain to get back," she defended herself, glancing up at them. "Will and Sarah—I can't just leave them to find their house destroyed and their car—truck—_thing_ run off!"

"They have all ready been contacted and are on their way to the Headquarters," Prowl sighed. "They know that their _thing _will be there shortly." He ignored Ironhide's darkened expression at being referred to as a 'thing' and plowed ahead. "Please, Mi—Piper, do not make this more difficult than it needs to be."

Piper attempted to glare a hole through Prowls' armor, but now that her weakened condition had been acknowledged, it decided to kick her adrenaline back in place and take over. Annabelle wrapped an arm around her waist as she swayed, and Officer Wyman moved closer to the edge of the deck, as though expecting her to faint.

"Piper," Annabelle looked up at the babysitter hesitantly, "I think we should go with them. Dad _did_ say he left us the truck incase anything happened."

Hillary tugged on her hand. "I wanna see my mommy!" She begged, looking up at Piper's face with tears glittering in the corners of her eyes.

Piper gave a heavy sigh and looked up at the two robots. "Who's driving?"

Ironhide took a step forward and then collapsed in on himself, gears shifting and whining as he transformed into a familiar black GMC Topkick. He drove forward, stopping parallel to the porch, and swung open the passenger-side door.

The babysitter paused. "I don't think I can drive right now," she muttered to the truck. In the drivers' seat, a man materialized, startling the three girls. He was older than Captain Lennox, appearing to be in his late 40's, his short black hair streaked with silver. His eyes—a deep sea-gray—were set in a scruffy, well-worn face of one who has seen too much but continues living. His clothing was simple—a black t-shirt and loose army pants covered his well-muscled limbs as one of his large black boots positioned itself over the gas pedal.

"I'll drive," He said simply, motioning for them to get in, the dog tags around his neck jangling. Piper and Annabelle hesitated, but Hillary, seeing the kind smile the war-veteran flashed them, climbed in without a second thought, plopping down beside the hologram. The Holo-hide leaned forward and motioned for the two remaining girls to move forward. "Annabelle, come sit with your sister," he instructed. The ten-year-old did as told and climbed up beside Hillary, their two slim bodies filling the front seat. Piper moved to squeeze in, considering the possibilities of putting the younger sister on her lap, but the door swung shut in her face. Beside her, the door to the back popped open and slowly swung outward, knocking against her elbow.

"You're gonna lie down in the back and stay still," The Holo-hide had appeared at her side, leaving the drivers' seat empty. She jumped, but he ignored the movement and instead motioned to the back seat. "You're holding us up, kid," he muttered.

Annabelle jabbed at one of the buttons on the door and watched as the window obligingly rolled down. "We'll be okay up here, Piper, as long as you're in the same car," she reassured the older girl. The Holo-hide slipped behind Piper and motioned to the open door. She griped the edge of the door and moved around it, carefully climbing into the stretched backseat. The door swung shut behind her and the hologram reappeared in the front seat.

Seatbelts snaked out of the leather interior and strapped around the girls, Hillary and Annabelle sharing the passenger seat belt as Piper was loosely fastened in the middle seat in the back. A few feet away, Prowl transformed into his cruiser mode and opened the door for Officer Wyman. The cruiser flipped on his lights and the two cars raced away from the house and towards the highway, heading for their base.

Once they had reached the off ramp and were cruising comfortably, Holo-hide threw his right arm across the seat and glanced back at Piper, scowling. "Didn't I tell you to lie down?" He demanded. Annabelle turned to look at her—Hillary was too short to see over the seat, so she ignored the conversation and watched the highway speed by ahead.

"I haven't lost that much blood," Piper muttered, crossing her arms and leaning back.

Holo-hide scowled. "It's not just the blood loss, _Miss Marks. _You were hit in the head during the attack, and your processor is still trying to reboot."

"What?"

He sighed. "You can't think straight."

Annabelle reached over the backseat and grabbed Piper's hand. "You do look really pale, Piper," the ten-year-old confirmed. "I'll keep an eye on Hillary if you want to lie down and rest."

"There's no _want,_" Holo-hide grumbled, radio readout flashing in time with his voice. "We have an hour's drive ahead of us. Now _lie down_ and _rest_."

"We'll be okay," Annabelle reassured her, which finally pulled forth a sigh from the bloody girl.

"All right, I'll lie down. But if anything happens, _anything at all_, wake me up, okay?"

The older of the siblings nodded. "Of course, Piper," She agreed, releasing her babysitters hand and watching as she stretched out on the back seat with a slight prompting from the seatbelt. Holo-hide turned back to face the road, gripping the steering wheel with his holographic hands. The last thing Piper could remember was seeing Annabelle's reassuring smile as exhaustion overcame her senses.

--------------

"Stop pressing my _buttons!_"

Piper jolted awake as Ironhide hit a large rock, jolting the cab of the truck and bouncing her around the back seat.

"Hillary, keep her hands to yourself," Annabelle chided her sister as the babysitter sat up dizzily. She glared grumpily at the holo-hide.

"If you're going to kidnap us," she muttered irritably, "The least you can do is do it gently."

He spared her a glance. "I'm _not _kidnapping you."

"Oh like hell you aren't."

Annabelle clapped her hands over Hillary's ears. "Piper, don't say that."

"Oops, sorry." She slunk back in her seat. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost," the radio flashed in answer, sounding irritable. Piper could only speculate that the younger girls had pestered him with that same question for the last hour. She glanced past the girls and out the windshield. In front of them, Prowl and Officer Wyman sped along the dirt road, headlights flashing off the thick trees of the forest the crowded around them. Beyond them sped a bright red Lamborghini, taking the corners and turns of the dirt road at insane speeds. As they finished rounding another corner, bright headlights flooded the cab, and Piper turned around to spot an identical sunshine yellow sports car was following closely behind.

"Are those sports cars robots too?" She asked, watching as the yellow car slid to one side of the road to avoid a nasty-looking tree branch.

Ironhide grumbled. "_Un_fortunately," he followed Prowl around a sharp bend as the trees around them began to thin. "Sideswipe 'n' Sunstreaker." His engine revved angrily, and behind them the yellow cars headlights flashed. "Slaggin' _punk._" He grunted as they finally cleared the forest and started up a steep slope.

"Is _that_ your base?" Hillary perked up as a crumbling warehouse surrounded by a rusted chain-link fence.

Ironhide followed him companions through the fence. "Yep. Home sweet home." The rollup door to the hanger lifted and they drove through into an equally desolate, crumbling room. Before the three humans eyes could properly adjust to the darkness, a voice rang out in the darkness.

"IRONHIDE! YOUR IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!


	3. Syringe Introductions

**Babysitting Chaos**

**Chapter 3: Syringe Introductions**

"IRONHIDE! YOU ARE IN _SO_ MUCH TROUBLE!"

The GMC Topkick sunk down on his axles as the overhead fluorescents flickered on, buzzing noisily. Three new mechs were revealed by the dancing lights, all standing in intimidating poses before a large, wooden freight door.

The largest of the three carried an air of authority about him, red arms crossed over the windshields of his alternate form, blue-flame decaled shoulders drawn back stiffly. A rigid faceplate covered his nose and mouth, leaving only a pair of flaring blue eyes visible. Beside him was a smaller, bright yellow mech with the same bright blue eyes. His stance was much more relaxed; the expression on his face almost cheerful.

Stalking towards them, however, was an irate greenish-yellow robot with red decals and the word 'Fire' printed upon the insides of both legs. Piper leaned forward over the front seat and craned her neck to look up at him as he overshadowed the truck, interrupting the glow cast by the noisy lights. From the corner of her eye, she saw Annabelle move to wrap her arms around Hillary. The yellow-green mech finally came to a stop right in front of the truck, legs akimbo and hands on his hips.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't scrap you myself," He seethed, voice filtering through the half-open windows of the Topkick. "Taking on Rumble by _yourself?_ What if Barricade had been near by?"

"I'm alive, ain't I?" Ironhide demanded impatiently, his hologram crossing large, burly arms over his chest and tapping an imaginary foot.

"Aw, c'mon Ratchet, lighten up," the red Lamborghini asked as he unfolded into a large robot with black accents and a face innocent enough to charm an angel. "He _did _save the Lennox girls." Beside him, the yellow sports car also transformed, shifting into a surlier version of the red Lambo with black head-fins.

"Just because he managed to live through _this _stupid mistake doesn't mean the next one will leave him in one piece."

Hillary reached up and grabbed Piper's hand, tugging on it to get her attention. "Why is the bossy one so angry?" She asked, lip quivering.

The Holo-hide sighed and fizzled out of sight. His voice echoed from the engine block, reprimanding the medic. "Ratchet, stop shouting. You're scaring my charges."

"They _should _be scared! Prowl radioed ahead and told me that one of them tried _attacking _Rumble on their own!" He roared.

"Ratchet, that is enough!" The blue-flame robot declared, faceplate sliding back to reveal and less-than-pleased expression hanging around his mouth.

"But Prime--"

"I am well aware that what Ironhide did was reckless and stupid, but yelling at him and frightening the humans is not going to help."

Ratchet huffed, crossing his arms and glowering down at Ironhide. "Well? Are you going to transform or what?"

"Is Captain Lennox here?" The Topkick countered, directing the question at the decaled mech.

"Yes, Sarah and him are on their way up as we speak." He answered.

"Then we can wait." Ironhide sat rigidly on his axels and ignored the death glare Ratchet was directing at him. Piper tried to unbuckle her seatbelt, but found it stuck fast.

"Dammit, let me go!" She cursed the truck, pulling at the thick fabric.

The Topkick kept the belt tightly secured. "You are damaged," he replied, "and are not to move until Captain Lennox arrives."

"I just want to give Hillary a hug! Let me go!" Piper demanded, aiming a swift kick at the back of the drivers' seat. Ironhide grunted in response, but as he saw the youngest girls face crumple in disappointment quickly decided he didn't want to harbor a crying youngling.

"All right, fine! Stop pulling, you're going to break something," he grumbled, releasing the buckle. Piper waited for it to fully retract, before clambering across the seat, head brushing against the roof of the cab as she slid into the drivers' seat. Hillary immediately clambered onto her lap, and to her credit, Piper didn't flinch. Instead, she motioned Annabelle closer and hugged both of them tightly, trying valiantly to keep from completely loosing her head. Giant alien robots living in their own backyard. Nobody was going to believe her.

The wooden doors behind the decaled mech and the happy yellow one creaked open and a large lift, fit for the giant aliens, was hauled into sight. There were three people on board; one gray-white mech with a red chevron and two very worried parents.

"Ironhide!" Lennox and Sarah sprinted across the warehouse floor, passing the decaled and yellow robots without a second glance. Ratchet stepped to the side and allowed the worried parents to approach the dented truck.

"The girls are fine, Captain," Ironhide reported as he swung open the passenger door. Piper released the girls and they eagerly slid to the warehouse floor, running around the door and into their parents' arms. Lennox pulled Hillary up off the ground, cradling her close as Sarah made a fuss over Annabelle's injured arm. Both girls launched into excited conversation about the fight and their rescue as Ironhide opened the drivers door and sunk down on his tires, allowing Piper to ease out of the car. He transformed as soon as she was out of the way and was immediately besieged by Ratchet, who grabbed his shoulder and began berating him about the fight once more.

Lennox glanced away from his sweethearts as Piper limped over to them, face set in a scowl. He handed Hillary off to his wife and stepped forward, a smile on his face. "Piper, I'm so glad you're all right. Prowl told us what happened, and I'm so proud of you for--"

Piper punched him. Bloody hand curled into a fist, she slammed it against the side of his face and sent him stumbling back a step, more from shock than the force of the blow. She glowered at him, nails digging into her palms, and every Autobot in the room froze and stared at them in shock. The decaled one, Prime, and his yellow companion were staring in open shock. The yellow twin looked mildly, handsomely surprised while the red one looked ready to burst into laughter at the shocked look that had claimed the captains face. Ratchet looked angry at the thought of having another patient to add to the ever-growing list while Ironhide didn't look all that shocked that someone would want to punch Lennox. He had himself, on more than one occasion.

"Consider that my two weeks notice," the babysitter seethed, ignoring the poisonous glare Sarah was giving her as she tried to distract Hillary, who had missed the entire thing. Annabelle simply stared at her babysitter, one of her best friends, the look on her face of one who is shocked but understands the reasoning behind the action. Piper spun on her heel and limped towards the door they had used to enter the warehouse, wincing as her bruising fist brushed against her thigh. She ignored Prowl and Officer Wyman as they moved to intercept her, along with the new gray and red robot.

The police man stepped in front of her as his partner pulled down the rollup door, effectively cutting off her escape, which she knew had been hopeless from the beginning. "Miss Piper," he held out his hands in a 'stop there' motion, and the babysitter smirked at the thought of being considered dangerous. "You are severely injured and are not in the right state of mind to be wandering around. Lets get you down to the medbay, where Ratchet can have a proper look at you." He motioned to the medic, who nodded in consent, Ironhide's dents and scrapes forgotten as he ran several scans on the human, noting the low blood level and slightly cloudy look in the girls' eyes.

"Miss Piper," Ratchet began, but paused at the venomous glare she sent his way.

Ironhide smirked and whispered softly to his medic. "No 'Miss', doc."

"Ah. All right, Piper," the glare softened somewhat, "You have lost nearly two pints of blood and are dangerously close to passing out. If you'll just follow me, we can have you as right as rain by morning."

"No."

The CMO stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Annabelle's hurt. Take care of her first." Piper crossed her arms stubbornly. "I'll be fine until then."

"Piper, you can barely stand." Officer Wyman placed his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. "Bella's fine, we'll take care of her. Now you just go with Ratchet and get fixed up, okay?"

"No!" She yanked her arms away from him and took several steps forward. "It's my fault she's hurt, so she gets seen to first, got it?" Her voice was firm.

Ratchet scowled. "Do _not _tell me how to do my job, girl." He growled. "Just because you're new doesn't mean I'm going easy on you."

"Stop trying to scare her, Ratchet." Sideswipe rolled his optics at the CMO, "She clocked Lennox in the face after trying to beat up Rumble. This chick is fearless."

"All right, that's enough." Prime demanded, his voice ringing out in the empty warehouse. "Bumblebee, take the Lennox's down to the secondary medbay and see if any of the human medics are still working." The yellow mech jumped into action, literally. He performed a fantastic swan dive at the pavement, but before he could hit the ground his body collapsed in on itself. Parts rearranged and snapped together, forming a bright yellow Camero where the robot had once been. He drove up and popped open both driver and passenger doors. Sarah took the passenger seat, Hillary in her arms, while her husband sat in the drivers' seat with Annabelle on his lap. The doors snapped shut, and Bumblebee drove into the lift, which closed as soon as his spoiler was through. There was a grating of gears and the five were gone.

"Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak; perform an outer perimeter check and scan for any Decepticon activity. Report any abnormalities." The twins and the new mech saluted smartly before transforming. Prowl reopened the rollup door and stepped to the side, watching as they passed through the rusted chain link fence and into the forest beyond.

Prime turned to the remaining mechs with a heavy sigh. "Prowl, call all the officers to the control room for a mandatory meeting. Ratchet, if there are no other medics on duty, then you are excused until Miss Piper is cared for."

"Yes sir," both mechs replied in sync.

"Ironhide, call up Jazz and have him contact the human government. They'll want to know what's going on."

"Sure thing, Prime." The Topkick agreed as the elevator doors slid open and the lift ground to a stop. Officer Wyman moved forward and placed a hand on Piper's shoulder.

"You okay, kid?" He asked softly, noting the slight sheen of sweat that covered her face. She shrugged off his hand and took a step away from him.

"Yeah, fine, just a little tired." She answered, forcing her hands into fists to hide their trembling. "I'm just fine." She began to follow Ratchet and Ironhide towards the lift. She made it three steps before collapsing.

"Piper!" Officer Wyman hurried to her side, but was beaten by Ratchet.

"She's fine," he reassured him, "Just pushed herself too hard." He picked her up gently and stood, giving Ironhide an annoyed look. "Why did you let her out of your cab? She should have stayed sitting."

"Don't blame me for this!" The weapons specialist tried to defend himself as they resumed their walk to the lift, where Prime was waiting patiently for his officers. "Next you're going to say _I _told her to hit Lennox!"

Ratchet paused. "Did you?"

"NO!"

---------

"Will, for the love of Primus, _stop moving!_"

Annabelle watched as her father tried to dodge the medics probing fingers, a grin spreading across her mouth as he slid off the gurney and placed it between himself and Doctor Sid. They had been in the human wing of the medical floor for nearly an hour, and her arm was finally bandaged up. After being cleaned up, Dr. Sid had insisted on a series of tests and x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken before being bandaged up. Everything had checked out just fine, and now he was trying to take care of the dark bruise on the side of her fathers face.

"C'mon, Daddy, it doesn't hurt." She picked up a pink sharpie and colored in the flower she had drawn on her bandage.

"I am _fine,_" Lennox grunted through his swollen jaw, moving to keep the table between himself and the doctor.

Sid threw up his hands with a grunt of exasperation. "Fine, fine, have it your way." He grunted angrily, turning and pulling off his latex gloves with a snap. The old medic had graying hair and had found his position as the human CMO at the Autobots base after thirty years of being a field medic and ten as an ER surgeon. He had been recommended by the defense secretary himself, and ever since his transfer to Arizona had become great friends with all of the Autobots and their human companions. "Who did that to you again?"

The captains' face twisted into a scowl. "The babysitter," he grumbled.

"You mean that delightful Piper girl that has been arguing with Ratchet for the last hour?" Sid gave the two a large, toothy smile. "Yes, I can see her throwing about a fist with some spirit. Why'd she hit you, though?"

Lennox shrugged. "No clue."

"Hmm. Well, you two are fine. Go on now, shoo." He motioned towards the door. "I'm going to help Ratchet with our little spirited patient." Chuckling to himself, he made sure Annabelle got a sucker for herself and one for Hillary before heading for the Autobots medbay.

"Look here, you little pit spawn," Ratchet began as Sid entered the bay and mounted the stairs to a platform halfway up the wall. There was a catwalk that ran the length of the wall on either side, keeping humans out from under foot and in sight, especially the children. The Autobot medic barely spared Sid a glance as he leaned against the railing right beside the gurney Piper had been given. She was sitting on a mattress on top of the recharge berth, arms crossed stubbornly as she and Ratchet continued to bicker.

"There is no way I'm _stripping _for you!" Piper snarled, squinting up at the CMO.

He sighed. "For the love of Primus, child! I'm a medic; I don't care if you're stark naked, I need to see your side!"

"It's just a cut, no big deal. Give me a Band-Aid and I'll be fine."

"A Band-Aid? A _Band-Aid?_ You'd bleed out before morning!"

Sid coughed quietly, catching both of their attention. "Um, Ratchet, if you'd like, I can take over for you."

The Autobot turned and glared at the human, patience frayed. "Aren't you supposed to be off duty until tomorrow morning?"

Sid shrugged. "Trouble never sleeps. Beside, I had to take care of Anna and her father." He glanced at Piper and grinned. "Nice shot, by the way. The entire left side of his face is going to be one big bruise by tomorrow."

Ratchet snorted. "Don't encourage her," he ordered, glancing at the human, who was stubbornly refusing any and all treatment. "Look, if you want to help, go make some of your special tea to help calm her down."

Sid grinned. "Mm'kay, do you want it strong?"

"The stronger the better for this one."

Piper glared at the two. "Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here!" She demanded angrily, forcing herself to stand. "I _am _standing right here!"

"Alright, one cup of extra-strong chamomile tea for the Miss."

Ratchet slapped a hand over his optics as Piper erupted into a new rant at being called 'Miss' once more. He watched as Sid practically _ran _out of the room, a grin on his face as he left the Autobot CMO to handle the ranting and raving girl.

"Do _not _use that kind of language in this medbay!"

"You were using this kind of language just a minute ago!"

"_I_ am allowed to, _you_ are not."

"You're such a hypocrite!"

"_I _am in charge, you little--"

"Tea time!"

Sid, face still split with his ever-present grin, swung over the catwalk railing and dropped the few feet to the gurney with the grace of a cat. An old cat, but still a cat.

Piper glared at him warily. "Well, where is it?" She demanded, noting the absence of a cup or pitcher.

Sid sat beside her, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Well, I couldn't find any chamomile, so I had to go with the next best thing." He pulled a syringe from the pocket of his lab coat and easily slid it into her shoulder, injecting her with the dark yellow liquid before she could protest.

"You bastard!" Piper yelped, yanking away from him when the syringe was only half-empty. The few milliliters had been more than enough, however, and Sid caught her as she fell back. "Just who...the hell do you...think you are?" She demanded as he settled her head on the pillow of the bed.

He grinned, mirroring Ratchets look of triumph. "Doctor Sid, Miss Piper. Sweet dreams."


End file.
